Cupid's Complications
by lovelytunes
Summary: Set in an alternate universe, Ya Tou and Xiao Jie Lollipop as two rival cupids mysteriously interfered with the lives of humans Gui Gui and Wang Zi, who would have never crossed each other's paths if not for the resulting enmity which came to be.
1. Chapter 1: Uneasy Gain

Foreword

Characters: Gui Gui, Wang Zi, Ya Tou, Xiao Jie. (Other minors might be added as the story progresses.)

Once upon a time in the heavenly Land of Fantaisie, there dwell an ever growing population of Cupids. They are grouped according to their different duties and ranks. The more capable ones are granted permissions to make use of the land's greatest treasures - its everlasting supplies of unique bows and arrows. Other than such, they also play out their role in guarding and securing earthly humans' love relationships, etc.

During a particular significant cupids' season of promotion to higher ranks, the heavy traffic all around, coupled with the rising demands for everyone's achievement report caused uneasy trail blockages here, there and everywhere. In one chance encounter, a popular sophomore cupid by the name of Ya Tou happened to collide straight on with an impulse-driven Xiao Jie (also a fellow cupid) during a secret crossing of the River of Flurries. This unfortunate incident led Xiao Jie to fire all blame on the resulting Cupid Promotion Convocation, which suspiciously retained himself in the former sophomore rank. On the other hand, Ya Tou was promoted up to two levels above his. Just how will his fiery anger affect Ya Tou's fragile future as a senior Cupid??

Meanwhile on earth, Gui Gui is an ordinary girl living her every day life with a hardworking and earnest attitude. She is serious in her jobs and studies. Not that she comes from a poor family, but her greatest wish of starting a plush-toy making factory before the age of 30 will always remind her to utilise all her free time and energy to fulfill this tough dream of hers.

Wang Zi (Real Name: Qiu Sheng Yi) is just his nick implies, the object of affection of nearly every girl in his college. He possesses the appearance of a charming prince, thus winning the innumerable hearts of his pursuers. Yet, he refuses their advances to focus on his studies as well as to challenge to the utmost limit, his penchant for creativity.

Four beings from two different worlds, across the dimensions of time and space...Just how will their destinies intertwined? Stay Tuned...

Chapter 1

Ya Tou rested her stiffened back against her newly-earned recliner made of not only the most comfortable, but also the softest cloud material in the land. "Ahhh, not bad eh?" she mused and hit on one of its control buttons to activate the gentle massage function. It soothed her hardened muscles to great effect.

With a wave of her hand, a glass of cooling lemonade came into sight. She took a sip and marvelled at the fact that all her hard work had paid off well in the end. Within a second or two of deep relaxation, the bell chime sounded through the strawberry-scented space. Ya Tou gladly stood up and chanted with glee, "Autograph Session to commence! Yay!"

Her wings flapped instantenously to take her through the air to her centre's courtyard. Putting on her pair of binoculars, she could foresee that the line-up was long enough to get the cupids protesting the need to wait. As part of the celebration of her promotion to a senior Cupid, she has been holding autograph sessions since who-knows-when. She announced aloud to the crowd below her rank to exhibit patience and that she promised to sign for all in attendance without break on her part.

Everyone cheered for her as a result. Ya Tou flashed a victory sign to begin, "Come on, the first in line please! Huh?!"

This cupid strangely donned a pair of thick sunglasses and dark overcoat with a sizeable hood that even his own pair of wings lay well-hidden underneath the material. He coughed hard and thus, it was only from the pitch of his voice that aided Ya Tou to correctly label him as a male.

"Oh, Mister...are you.....?" Ya Tou was quite puzzled.

He quickly jumped in to continue in an apparent sickly tone, "Err hem...Senior Ya Tou...you know...I labour all night and day...just to take care of those crappy humans...that now,...I have caught their worldly disease...the so-called...ca-...ca-...can-...can-...canc-....."

"Cancer?!!" Ya Tou was overly astounded. She quickly got up from her throne and down the stage, "Goodness Gracious...As a Senior Cupid, I must bring you over to the Fountain of Vigor...Come with me, hurry!!"

She led the seemingly ailing junior cupid away from the sight of the crowd who was totally helpless in stopping her. They arrived at a stream of dancing fountains and the overwhelming pressure on Ya Tou finally lifted. She pointed out, "Here you are, My loving Junior Cupid...Take a step forward to wash up the feather of your wings and all will return to normal...Trust me!!"

"Oh...," he sighed. "But before that, you must sign for me, My loving Senior." Digging fast into his coat pocket, he took out a booklet for her.

Ya Tou smiled happily, "For sure I will..." She waved a hand for her personal quill to appear and fulfill her duty.

Beyond the shadow of his hood, a hideous smirk affirmed the reality of a trap he has cleverly designed.

Ya Tou grimaced as her vision started to blur before her sharp eyes, "Ah...why so dizzy?" When the signature was complete, it blinked with insurmountable brightness that she could feel her own power diminishing at lightning-fast speed. "Noooo..." her much-admired voice trailed off and Ya Tou vanished into thin air.

"HaHaHa!!! I have finally gotten my revenge on you, Senior!!" Xiao Jie threw away his cloak to catch hold of the signed booklet. "From now on, no one will know!!" he sneered and flapped his wings to fly away.

At about the same time on earth, Gui Gui was on her usual round pacing about in the library collecting books to borrow. On her tiring hands rested a huge pile of thick dusty materials. Passing by the Economics section, she stopped abruptly after spotting a popular text from a side-glance. She struggled to balance what she was already carrying with one hand while reaching out to the shelf with another. However, just one-tenth of a second before she could succeed, the tall pile of books she got began to shake. Without noticing, someone else snatched away the Economics text while Gui Gui, with her eyes focusing on the trembling pile, grabbed hold of a random novel entitled, 'Cupid's Helpline'. Following, all books fell haphazardly onto the floor. Gui Gui was disheartened as she crouched down to gather them all.

"Ah oh...," Ya Tou yawned as she regained her senses. She looked about in shock after realising she was now encased in a dark flattened corner of a two-dimensional world. "Why?!! How did I end up in a bookmark?!!" She yelled out but only echos were heard reflecting back to her head.


	2. Chapter 2: Wrong Hands

Browsing through some of the books she had borrowed the day before, Gui Gui was taken aback by one of them looking extremely unfamiliar. She pondered and got confused. Pulling the odd one out from a tall pile, she yelped upon seeing the cover, "Yikes! What ghostly book is this?? Cupid's Helpline?? How did this came to be??" Attacked by goosebumps all over, she could not stand the eerie reaction it induced on herself and spun around to grab her backpack from the cluttered desk. Deciding its source must be the library, she dumped the book straight into the front pocket, zipped it up in a flash and dashed out of her bedroom.

Unbeknown to her, in the midst of the whole attempt, something had fell helplessly out of the book and landed onto the floor. The impact of friction against the furry carpet awakened Ya Tou from her unwilling slumber. "Ahh, finally out of heavy paper cage," she muttered while rubbing her eyes open. Glancing around, she hated to admit that everything was still 2-dimensional to her. Quickly brainstorming ways to escape from the skinny bookmark, she came up with an idea. Crossing her fingers, she figured, "Now I can only rely on the mind's 'Radiance'-measuring thermometer. Let's hope that every member of this home has done enough of love exercise over time." She worked on focusing her inner strength for a minute or so. "Bingo!!" She instantly beamed with gladness and the level of radiance in the house was calculated to pass the 50th degree mark. Concentrating fully without reservations, she slowly dispersed into a cloud of blinding light, before emerging out of the paper in perfectly normal figure.

"Ohmigosh...Thank Heavens...Thank Heavens," she uttered with sweaty forehead and palms. She ought to be grateful for destiny's saving luck. Squinting her eyes opened after calming her being, she gasped with mouth opened wide after looking about the immediate surroundings. Overwhelmed and uncertain, she flopped onto the floor with a loud thud, "Oh no,...now what had brought me here and how will I go back?? Awww....."

Arriving at the library, Gui Gui headed straight to the service desk to talk to the librarian and presented the wrongly-borrowed book.

"So you're returning this?" the lady wanted to confirm. Gui Gui eagerly nodded.

The librarian told her to hold onto the book while she proceeded to check the computer. Then, behind the counter, a fellow librarian approached the first lady. Gui Gui merely waited while they chatted and sounded to be discussing some issues.

"Strange, the screen's frozen," Gui Gui overheard more of their conversation exchange. Upon a thought, she guessed that there must be technical difficulties. Yet, she found herself open to waiting if there was a need to.

Not long, the librarian turned to her, "When did you borrow this?"

"Yesterday," Gui Gui replied straight. Then, it appeared that she got the sense that their interaction was being watched.

"Ahhh!!! Oh dear!!" a passing girl shrieked and paced towards them. Giving Gui Gui a shocked stare, she exclaimed after seeing what she has in her hands, "How did this happen?! Where did you get it? Tell me!"

Gui Gui returned with a puzzled expression, "Why should you bother? We're in a library...where else can I get this from??"

The queer girl inquired of the librarian, "This book is written by a New York Times best-selling author and there is exactly only one copy in the whole of Taiwan, I am sure...It's not even out in stores yet. Can you possibly tell me you have just put this 'Cupid's Helpline' up on your shelves before everyone else did??"

The librarian was quite intimidated by her and requested for Gui Gui to let her have a look. After flipping through the pages to the back of the book, she could see the library stamp on it. This gave a positive answer to the girl's question.

"Oh my...oh my..." she continued to moan and urged them to wait while she try to make a call. "Hello, Wang Zi??"

From the other end of the line, he was momentarily startled by the sound of her voice.

"Wang Zi, if it's not for my cousin asking help in searching for student job vacancies around town, I wouldn't have come enquiring at West Street Library's service desk only to find out that you have dispose of my precious Wednesday's gift to you!!!" The girl practically yelled into the phone.

Wang Zi quickly covered his ear and feigned a stranger's voice, "Sorry, you've got the wrong number!" He hurriedly hung up.

"How could you?!!" the girl cried out in fury.

Back in an empty classroom, Wang Zi kept wondering how his book donation to Mount Pleasant Library had circulated all the way to West Street's. Scratching his head, worries now pressured him to resolve the matter.

"Excuse me, are you done with your scolding??" the librarian asked.

The girl snatched the book away from her and brought it close to her face, "Yes, it's daisy-scented...This has got to be the one!!" On the side, Gui Gui only shuddered at her display of such attitude.

"Young lady," the librarian called. "I understand that you're having suspicions about your boyfriend being cold-hearted but with our database system down at the moment, I can't retrieve the information of whosoever the real donor is." Then, she told Gui Gui, "You girl, I can't accept the return of this book because it would be impossible to track down your record without entering into the computer...So please come back tomorrow,okay?"

"Impossible to retrieve??" the girl's tone instantly changed from indignant to more hopeful. She then grabbed Gui Gui's arms and demanded, "So there's a possibility that you might have stolen or taken this book by force..."

Finding her all the more ridiculous, Gui Gui's temper rose to lash back at the insensible girl, "You're just dense! So what if I really stole it?" She then took the book from the librarian and dangled it before her, "This is still under my name...So I get to keep it with me!!" Sticking out her tongue, she made a face before walking off.

Stomping after her until the exit door closed, the girl shouted out in total dissatisfaction, "I'll find a day to settle with you!!"


	3. Chapter 3: Beyond Awareness

Above in the heavens, Xiao Jie clicked on his PDA to pinpoint Senior Ya Tou's whereabouts on earth. In a blink of eye, a red spot popped up. He let out a wry laugh, "Hmmm...West End District in...Taiwan?? Interesting..."

He went on to zoom in on her activity, yet the screen on his hand blacked out. A giant sign came into sight with a message error, "Protected Zone - Trespassers To Retreat". "What?!!" He flinged the gadget away, which consequently vanished into thin air of bubbles. Clenching his fist, he was extremely angered, "No way! There must be some barrier of defence securing her safety..." Digging into one of his silvery robe's pockets, he got out the booklet, "Yet, the whole cupid population in this land had received the news of you Ya Tou missing...Time is still in my hands to rectify this problem of tension between us both...HaHaHa!!!"

Over on earth, Ya Tou was engaged in a mental and emotional struggle within herself to figure out how she came to be at the location where she was this very moment. Stuck in Gui Gui's bedroom, she has been pacing back and forth trying to recall all that had last happened in the Land of Fantaisie. "Ahh!!" An idea soon lit up out of the blue as she inferred, "I must have signed on my own passport!! Oh, that sneaky junior of mine...Pretenting to be a pathetic sickly cupid..."

A huge distraction followed as the next second, the door flew open and Gui Gui came storming in, hurling a certain something from the grasp of her hand across the room to her messy desk at the opposite end. Her display of temper startled Ya Tou who merely stood watching with fright.

Gui Gui threw herself hard onto the sofa, "Good Heavens...Obnoxious fangirl...So what if you've got a boyfriend?! Scrutinizing his every move would only push you closer and earlier to a breakup! And don't ever tell me afterwards that you don't deserve such treatment!!" She crossed her arms in a fit of outrage and pushed herself against the firm support of the velvet cushion, closing her eyes to vent off all remaining frustrations and then calming down.

Seeing her in such exhausted state, Ya Tou slowly walked up to her side. At such a close-up distance between both girls, she could have a chance to study and gaze onto the lovely features of her delicate face. Spending some minutes of unbreakable silence on the task, she finally snapped, "Right! You are the charming young lady - Gui Gui. Once on an 1000th year assignment, I remember you as a kid in a theme park...You played with a toy-vending machine and managed to win in one go, every single stuffed toy in it. Out of love and compassion, you gave each one of the adorably cute animals away to all children who had been patiently watching you...Oh what fate that I'm here before you today..." Ya Tou clasped her hands together to offer a second's worth of thankful meditation.

Since the girls were both two different beings, Gui Gui was not capable in sensing Ya Tou's presence, much less to hear every word she had uttered with her heart's concern. She continued to allow herself some time for a rest and also to cool down her emotions, completely unfeeling towards a newly-arrived companion in the household.

Ya Tou was sensitive to her weariness. She reached over to wipe off unseen beads of sweat on Gui Gui's aching forehead and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I can even sense your muscles tensed due to burdens of daily human life...Poor girl..."

Getting up and heading over to the table, Ya Tou saw what Gui Gui had thrusted onto the table. She picked it up and read, "Cupid's Helpline..." Thinking of possible remedies, she then shut her eyes to focus her power on what she was holding. After seconds, she was grateful that the effort had worked, "Gui Gui, make full use of the heavens' support!!"


	4. Chapter 4: Unplanned Encounter

Trotting down the sidewalk, Wang Zi came to arrive at the entrance side of the West Street Library. He stopped and paused in front of it, taking in the sight of the two-storey building's name etched onto the concrete wall above the door. Nearby, passers-by did give brief glances at him most likely guessing that he must be a stranger to the area.

After some hesitance, he finally made up his mind to venture inside. Scanning around, he gathered that the interior was typical of any public library he had been to, only that the staff counter was situated quite far behind. He quicken his pace to head over. Fortunately, he didn't have to suffer his patience for long line-ups.

"Excuse me," he requested of the librarian. "Can you check if the book titled 'Cupid's Helpline' is available?"

The lady staff member then started looking up the database on the computer. However, halfway through, she managed to recall vividly, "Sorry, a girl has borrowed it...and yesterday, there was technical problems with our system...So I asked her to hold onto it first..."

Upon hearing so, Wang Zi's hope sank to rock-bottom. For the whole day in school, he had been working so hard hiding from possible corners to avoid that eccentric pursuer of his but in the least, with the assurance that he could get the book back. Now, he abhorred imagining what kind of days might follow should she know that he had gotten rid of her gift to him for free.

He thought hard and asked of the librarian, "Do you have any idea when will she be returning it?"

She considered, "Err...The day before, I told her to come back again today...But, I can't be certain...you might wanna wait a while and see..."

Wang Zi felt as though her words was giving him some faith at one point while bombarding him with bullets killing all his anticipation the next second. He sighed in exasperation, "Okay then, but judging from what you said, you probably had seen her...how does she look like??"

The lady hated to admit his question was a challenge for her. Giving accurate description has always been her weakness and thus, she replied briefly, "Well, big rounded eyes, full lips, medium height, hair tied up in a bun with fringes, slim build....."

Wang Zi could not help but chided, "Just what kindergartners can say at best..."

She immediately gave him a look of displeasure, "Young man, can't you see that you're holding up the line of people behind you?! Please, I don't serve you all day....."

He turned about and consequently witnessed what she said. Quickly stepping aside, he mouthed a word of apology and thanks before leaving the counter.

After glancing about for possible chances, Wang Zi still opted to exit the building with bottled-up disappointment. Outside, loitering aimlessly here and there yet could not bring up a resolute atttitude to go home, he flopped onto an empty bench. Watching various people rushing to and fro each end of the street, he was fade-up in a way and took out his notepad.

What began as insensible scribbles at first gradually led to him reconstructing the librarian's description of that unknown girl word after word. Even though she had mentioned only simple and straightforward adjectives, his creative impulse provided great room for expression of the yet unseen. He continued to sketch with ease and inspiration kept fuelling his work with reality's accuracy.

From across the road, Gui Gui was pacing ahead with record-breaking speed as the pedestrian light was rapidly blinking. On the other side, Wang Zi was about to finish his drawing and lifted his gaze to decide from the immediate surroundings, on what kind of background to accompany the rough portrait. In a flash, wondering whether his eyes was playing tricks on him, he instinctively set down his notepad. Almost could not believe that he has spotted a girl carrying that familiar-looking book, he took steps forward only to realise that luck was finally on his side.

Still rushing, Gui Gui had a thought suddenly interrupting her attention sharply. She gasped, "I forgot to get my paycheck from Mr Lee!! Gosh, yesterday was my last day...Ahhh!!" Unwilling to handle any loss, she spun around last moment to charge back to where she had came from.

Alerting to her running away, Wang Zi hurried to across the street and called out loud after Gui Gui, "Hey!! Excuse me, Wait up!!!"

Gui Gui turned about but in a split second, a side-glance averted her attention to a truck heading fast towards the intersection as the pedestrian light had stopped. The driver honked and subsequently, Wang Zi noticed the danger. He ran fast and grabbed Gui Gui firmly before leaping high over the remaining crossing. Through the air and just before they were to end up knocking against a tough lamppost, Gui Gui was petrified and shut her eyes to brace the would-be result of the hurting impact behind her. At this instant, Wang Zi recognise the risk. He pulled Gui Gui towards himself and pitched his free arm to cushion the blow in between her back and the hard steel.

When they were finally on firm ground, Gui Gui could still only feel the intense breathing of this anonymous life-saver as he persisted to hold her close. She squinted her eyes open but there was only shadows and blurriness.

Seconds passed before he uttered at last, "Are you okay?"

His voice, which she sensed to be filled with so much concern turned that instant into seemingly boundless eternity. Today was the first time in her whole life that Gui Gui experienced the feeling of being saved and protected.

He pulled apart and the fantasy soon dispersed. Gui Gui saw him now more clearly. He asked without delay, "Can I have the book??"

"Huh?" she was caught unaware. By the sidewalk on the other end of the street, the book lay there, dirtied after being ran over and extremely wet due to the vehicle's fluid leak.

"Ohmigosh," Wang Zi exclaimed as he raced to claim the object of his purpose in coming here.

Gui Gui walked up to his side and doubted why he would regard the book so important.

He turned to her, "Anyway, just leave this to me from now on...I'll take care of it since you're about to return regardless..."

She was even more puzzled on how he came to know so much. Recollecting yesterday's events, her quick-witted mind helped her understand. He must be someone who knew that annoying girl she came across in the library.

"Thanks then," she expressed unfeelingly and walked away. After some distance down the street, she turned about to look but his back was still facing her probably fussing over what he should do next with the ill-fated book. She sighed upon fancying he was yet another cool-headed person. Otherwise, she could have volunteered to do more and helped solve together the issue at hand.


	5. Chapter 5: Restorative Work

The next day after the last class, Wang Zi came to a store which offered book cleaning service. Walking up to its front, he called out to the owner, "Hi there, are you the only one in Taiwan which takes care of dirtied books...I have one with me here..." He took out the book recovered from the roadside the day before and showed the man.

He came forward and gladly led Wang Zi into the store, "No problem...Indeed we have been specialising in this line of business for over 50 years...you have come to the right place...Your book can be restored to perfection..." He checked through the covers and pages before estimating, "Should take about a half-an-hour...is that okay with you??"

"Oh," Wang Zi thought and then nodded. "Sure, but you're certain that it will look just as new as before??"

The man smiled and patted his shoulder, "Trust me! We are the experts!"

"Huh? 'We'?" Wang Zi wondered. The store owner then turned about to urged aloud his assistant to get to the front and handle the job.

"Alright, alright...coming your way..." a sing-song voice answered.

Wang Zi looked about and within a second or two, felt something struck his mind. There was a sharp sense of familiarity, approaching from somewhere.

"Okay, boss...this should be.....ah huh??" the girl stared with eyes opened wide onto the book. When Wang Zi finally managed to trace the source of his uneasiness, he was also taken aback.

"You?!" Both of them pointed at each other in disbelief.

The storeowner watched on with interest, "Oh, since you two know each other...Okay, young man, I'll give you a discount!"

"Boss!!" Gui Gui glared at him with dissatisfaction.

Wang Zi let out a pretentious laugh, "Wow, that's so good of you...I'll have to thank you then..." He turned to Gui Gui smilingly.

"Alright, get to work, Gui Gui..." her boss rushed her as another customer showed up at the door.

She reluctantly went to get some clorox wipes from the cabinet. "Goodness, I have been through so much obstacles in order to get this job and now, on my first day of work, he comes again..." Gui Gui muttered silently in her heart.

Taking the cleaning cloths from the counter, the disgruntled expression on her sweet-turned sour face was all too noticeable. Just when she started attending to the book cover, Wang Zi quietly paced up to her workstation and stood by looking over as she proceeded with the task.

Gui Gui paused halfway and questioned, "Hey, are you that eager to be a spectator here?"

He merely shrugged while returning her gaze, "Is there any rule stating that I can't be one??"

She pursed her lips, "Fine..." Adding further in her thoughts, she knew that there was no use to bicker with such a person and warned inwardly, "Remember you owe me once this time..."

Diverting her attention to fully focus on her job at hand, she simply worked thoroughly in applying all that she had learned, be it theoretically or in practice, in careful steps systematically. She skillfully but tenderly wiped the outside of the book by doing the spine edge first before continuing to the gutters and then moving across the covers to the edges.

Deep in her concentration, she was almost completely unaware of Wang Zi's constant observation of her professionalism from the side. He could not help but admit that this girl was definitely capable in her own style. Unawarely, the core of his vision would sidetrack from the book on the table to her appearance. He noticed her gaze did not waver and then those sweeping eyelashes lining her pair of engaging eyes were unique to behold. Her face, fair with rosy-pink cheeks, made her looked angelic. Before he could go on further, Wang Zi abruptly snapped back to reality. What caused him to be so mesmerised? He quickly shook off all musing and cleared his throat.

Gui Gui looked up him curiously, although slightly frustrated at the distraction he inevitably gave her, "Can't stand the strong odour, right?"

Wang Zi only gave her a questioning glance without a hint of a reponse.

She smiled out of contentment, for the first time on this day. "Okay, now let's study the inside," Gui Gui rolled up the long sleeves of her coat and decided on what cleaning solution to use next.

Even from where he was, Wang Zi could spot very clearly a few bruises on the side of her left arm. Noting his concerned gaze, Gui Gui tried to cover them up again, "Excuse me, if I'm not wrong, these stains should be some kind of fluid right??"

Wang Zi obviously had misheard as he simply returned, "Is it because of yesterday's incident?"

Gui Gui was momentarily silent for she had not been expecting in the least that he would care at all. Yet, the way he just asked dismissed all her initial not-so-favourable impressions of him. He did recall what had happened the day before, when they first met. So has this change of attitude matched up to her definition of a chivalrous gentleman?


	6. Chapter 6: Night of Reflections

That night, in his room, Wang Zi lay on his bed quietly flipping through pages of the newly-cleaned book. Apparently what he was gazing at was not at all the focus of his attention. The printed words did not register at all in his mind as he was very much into recalling what happened earlier that day in the store. What chance encounter was it that he would bump into her for the second time? He shook his head, finding fate incomprehensible and hard to grasp. Now, he was holding something long gotten rid of, yet through her ingenuity, ended up spotless and wondrously perfected in his hands. Each touch and brush sure counted for something.

He closed the book and placed it back onto the table. Then, a reminder struck him. Pulling out his bag, he dug inside it and managed to find his notepad. He heaved a sigh of relief before hastily flipping it open. He got to check the right page. Not long, he did so and feeling over his work completed the day before outside the library, he was intriguingly astonished momentarily. The sketch strikingly resembled the girl, or 'Gui Gui' as he last heard so. Baffled, he recognised her pair of soulful-looking eyes, wide cheeks and full lips in this work, which also masked a great deal of one's own deep-felt enthusiasm and liking. How could he ever draw her in such realistic style even before seeing her for the first time? Coincidence seemed only half the answer. After so many instances of failing in his Art class, he finally came up with an impressive creation.

Just while he was still engrossed in his thoughts, the door bell sounded. Wang Zi moaned and reluctantly got out of bed. He stuffed his notepad into the bedside drawer.

Opening the door, he was even more let down to see her.

"Oh Wang Zi! Finally I got to see you," the girl, who had earlier accused Gui Gui in the library squealed excitedly.

"Oh, what brings you here?" he silently cursed his luck.

She quickly uttered a reasonable excuse, "I'm on my way to a shopping centre in the same neighbourhood so thought of dropping by."

He looked at the clock, "This late for shopping??"

She merely dismissed his question and hurried into the apartment, "Come on, you're not welcoming me here?"

Wang Zi headed into the kitchen to grab some drink from the fridge.

Wandering around, the girl happened to passed by his room with the door left ajar. As a result, she caught sight of the book she had given him on the table. She quickly went inside and have a look at it. "Still here, so what about that similar copy in the library??" she wondered.

Wang Zi scanned around the house only to find her already in his bedroom. He caught up with her and called out, "Tong Tong!! How many times have I told you not to enter my room?"

She gave him a doubful look and held up the book, "But this one??"

He sighed and handed her the drink, "It's with me afterall, right? So don't overuse your imaginations and say that I had donated it away, okay??"

She only stared back at him submissively, nodding to respond but deep in her heart, there were still some reservations.


	7. Chapter 7: Unidentified Concern

The next day's afternoon after coming back home from work, Gui Gui's mood was extremely elated. Seated before her study desk, she was grinning from ear to ear with her hands holding fast onto a little bottle of something and a piece of mint-scented note. Her boss had told her that someone requested of him to pass them to her but left very quickly just before she showed up for work.

Reading the note for who-knows-how-many times over and over again, she still could not take her eyes of it. On the side and unknown to her, Ya Tou crept up and could not understand why Gui Gui could be so absorbed in such simple things. She skimmed through the piece of paper, "This herbal oil can guarantee fast recovery from bruises. Do give it a try. From:....." The first impression that came to Ya Tou's mind was that it sounded very much like what would come from a desperate advertiser's persuasion. However, Gui Gui was already entranced and smiling like a hopeless romantic to herself for the past half-an-hour.

Ya Tou shook her head upon noticing her so helplessly drawn to shallow but heart-pleasing words, "No no no,...Gui Gui...don't be an airhead!"

As if really experiencing some sense knocked into her flattered soul, Gui Gui has her attention more focused momentarily. She moaned aloud, "Goodness! Why did boss want to keep his identity from me? I can't even make out his signature here! Is he that geeky coursemate of mine, or that stunning-looking delivery guy, or that suave club president, or that bespectacled top student...or that...or that...Ahhh!!" Scratching her head in dissatisfaction, she looked closer and squinted her eyes but still, the person has the most illegible sign ever on earth.

"Hmmm...time for me to prove my use," Ya Tou beamed with confidence at first until when she realised she had been illegally sent from the heavens to earth. Thus, her power must be in one way or another not as complete as before. She bit her lip, "Nevermind, gotta try and see if there's any defect!" Following, she waved her hand. No materialisation of any sort. She shut her eyes, then clapsed her hands hard to concentrate and waited.

By now, Gui Gui was wailing with disappointment. Ya Tou quicken herself, "Please...Please...Please..." She opened her eyes wide, "Ahhh!!" Without warning of any sort, some heavy weight fell onto her and she landed clumsily with a loud thud on the floor.

"Oh my," Ya Tou pitifully climbed out from under the human-sized tool. Sighing, she struggled to hold it up, "What kind of a magnifying glass is this?? Now, I'm getting over-sized stuff..." Utilising all her strength to maintain balance, she positioned the huge magnifying glass over the piece of note under Gui Gui's eyes.

She did not expect it at all but Gui Gui suddenly found the signature all clear for her to read. "Wang Zi??" she was startled.

Flashback...

The queer girl inquired of the librarian, "This book is written by a New York Times best-selling author and there is exactly only one copy in the whole of Taiwan, I am sure...It's not even out in stores yet. Can you possibly tell me you have just put this 'Cupid's Helpline' up on your shelves before everyone else did??"

The librarian was quite intimidated by her and requested for Gui Gui to let her have a look. After flipping through the pages to the back of the book, she could see the library stamp on it. This gave a positive answer to the girl's question.

"Oh my...oh my..." she continued to moan and urged them to wait while she try to make a call. "Hello, Wang Zi??"

From the other end of the line, he was momentarily startled by the sound of her voice.

"Wang Zi, if it's not for my cousin asking help in searching for student job vacancies around town, I wouldn't have come enquiring at West Street Library's service desk only to find out that you have dispose of my precious Wednesday's gift to you!!!" The girl practically yelled into the phone.

End of flashback...

The expression on Gui Gui's face abruptly changed just like any unpredictable weather.

Ya Tou wondered, "There are so many princes on earth...which one??" She then flung the heavy magnifying glass away for it to disappear into a wave of rainbow-coloured bubbles. Snapping her fingers, a sparkling-white starry outline appeared in the air. She now understood, "So he's an Aries..."


	8. Chapter 8: Unsettled Choice

In West Street's library, Wang Zi has been awaiting before the counter, doubting restlessly of his decision to reclaim the book, 'Cupid's Helpline', held tightly in his hands, back from the library's ownership. He kept on thinking aimlessly that it was not a best solution to always borrow the book without end. On the other hand, how embarrassing it would be to have the book returned to him after just merely less than a week when he himself had generously donated it.

"Excuse me, young man...still sweetly daydreaming??" the same old lady librarian shot him an impatient look which alerted Wang Zi's confused mind back to reality.

"Oh, sorry," he stammered and reluctantly went up to her. Holding up the book hesitantly, he hated to imagine the consequence should he arrive at the wrong conclusion of the heated mental debate going on within him. He smiled sheepishly at her, "I...I...am...returning this..."

She did not seem to buy his words, as though she could see through his dilemma with an overwhelming penetrative power. Folding her arms, she questioned him straight, "Are you sure that you're not gonna regret??"

Just the glare from her eyes was enough to cause a mixed-up of emotions inside him. He turned about to think hard this time, but there appeared to be no confidence. Getting back to her, he cleared his throat, "Actually, it's someone...so-called...'Gui Gui', I think...who is returning this..."

"Hmmm," she just could not seem to figure out what has been going on between this two youngsters. Taking the book from him, Wang Zi was still absent-mindedly grasping onto it that she has to use much force to pull it away. She then scanned the item.

Still keeping his focus on the book, Wang Zi crossed his fingers to crack his brain to come up with something to nullify all regrets. He should not have spoke so insensibly minutes ago. Glancing about, he finally exclaimed aloud, which subsequently shocked the librarian, "Wait! I noticed there is a computer not working right over there, can you please see what's the problem??"

"Huh?" she barely could stand him and quickly hurried to one of those workstations.

Wang Zi has all the heavens to thank for. Now, he has got time to reconsider. Fingering the book, he reasoned quietly with greater determination while looking about. He then inevitably noted that the counter's computer screen was turned at a greater angle facing away from the librarian's side in such a way that Wang Zi could easily view it.

Details of the last borrower were displayed. He read, "'Microeconomics', 'Macroeconomics', 'Business Planning', 'Management Accounting', 'Effective Fundraising', 'Project Analysis', 'Corporate Communication Techniques'..." Wang Zi was surprised to come across such list of books and a number of others that Gui Gui had borrowed. He wondered if she was infact that studious.

The librarian came back and Wang Zi quickly took the book away from the desk. Apologising, he flashed a captivating smile at her, "Sorry, I need this book for a longer time...So long!" Walking away, an idea now struck his mind which had him pondering instantly of how to go about accomplishing it.

Across the barrier of humanity, in the heavens, Cupid Xiao Jie was now rushing himself to come up with workable strategies that would succeed fast. He struggled hard, "The formal appeal has to take at least 7000 Cupid days to be approved, and even much much more time before required actions has to be implemented. Oh my!!" Scratching his head, the letter of notification in his hand was creased as he pressed it hard.

He waved slightly and a cloud-like stool appeared for him to sit on. Out of desperation, he threw the letter into the air and it vanished into bubbles, "At this point, I've absolutely no other option...I had better go to the Tower of Commons myself and have a look at both Ya Tou's and mine 'Annual Performance Report'!!" He had his heart fully set on this ultimate tactic.


	9. Chapter 9: Alternate Route

Ya Tou finished dusting the study desk and sofa in Gui Gui's room before checking every corner to make sure that her housekeeping duty was well done. When she was all satisfied at last and decided that she had made used of the time alloted to her, she flopped onto the cozy bed with a loud sigh. Enjoying her rest, it was barely a minute afterwards when she yelped and got up on her feet again. "Goodness...I just arranged this bed an hour ago!" She quickly straightened the sheets and patted off invisible dust from it, in case if there is any, and snapped her fingers for the feather-duster to disappear.

Looking about the specklessly clean room, she threw herself onto the carpeted floor in order to not create unnecessary mess before Gui Gui arrived home. Closing her eyes to soothe her being, with all tasks completed, her heart and mind was able to find relaxing peace.

"How could you be so forgetful, Honey?" The voice from outside rang loud and clear in her hypersensitive ears. Ya Tou instantly sat up and deciphered that something in the household must have gone wrong. She rushed out of the room to acquaint herself with the problem.

In the living room, Gui Gui's dad had just been back but her mom appeared frustrated.

"Dear,...it had been a busy day at work...so I couldn't remember that Mother's birthday event is this evening," Gui Gui's dad explained with regret.

Her mom sighed in exasperation, "We promised to celebrate with her and take Gui Gui along...It's gonna be a long drive to the village..." She looked at the clock and hastily rushed her husband, "We'll just got to make the most use of our time now...Just hurry and order some nice takeouts fast before Gui Gui's home...I don't want her to be disappointed."

"Alright, dear!" Gui Gui's dad wore his shoes and paced urgently out of the house.

"Be careful, Honey!" Gui Gui's mom called before closing the door but still seemed rather worried though.

By the hallway, Ya Tou figured the cause of the issue. Based on her deduction, Gui Gui was probably on her way back now. She could empathised with her dad and mom on their desperation. Trying to think of a way to decrease the amount of stress in the home, she focused her power of concentration on the various possible turn of events. Gradually, she could sense that somehow, her solution is going to work.

Meanwhile, Gui Gui, who has been walking home for quite a while down a street, stopped in her track. Scanning at what had happened by the road junction far ahead, she lamented, "Why so unfortunate? Reckless drivers getting into accidents again...Now, I'm going to be late by taking the longer route..." The heavily-blocked traffic before her forced Gui Gui to turn a corner so that she could proceed on. Feeling extremely let down, she hated to face the fact of keeping her parents waiting at home.

On the other hand, few blocks down the road, someone was busy engaged in distributing sheets of questionnaire to nearly every passers-by. Donning a black cap and thick sunglasses, he called out to the people to get their attention, "Hey there, you a Commerce student?...Oh good...I'm running this survey, do fill out the questionnaire please, thanks...Hello, how's it going? Also a Commerce student? Great...Here's a sheet for you...Doing Commerce degree too?? Please grab one and complete it..." And so the process of asking and giving away continued as university students apparently were present in huge numbers after their last classes amongst the crowd to participate.

The overwhelming responses worked to bring a contented smile across his face. Before the papers ran out, he pulled out a box from behind and announced, "Okay, okay now...everyone, as a gesture of appreciation, I'm offering every respondent a cool, lovely and juicy lollipop! Come, get your share, kind people!" He fished out handfuls of those candies and passed them on.

By now, Gui Gui was nearing what she perceived to be another enticing scene in town. She quicken her pace to squirm through the throngs of people, trying to catch sight of what was actually going on.

Being petite was an advantage and she soon came to stand before a person busy digging out lollipops to eager bystanders. When everyone seemed to care less of what his survey was all about and kids from all directions started helping themselves to the goodies despite his attempt to stop them, the situation soon went out of control. He then quickly handed out the remaining unfilled questionnaires before the crowd scattered.

"Here, any more Commerce undergraduates? Before I forget, everyone who participated will be entered in a draw with a $100 worth of prizes, alright?" His voice aroused curiosity in Gui Gui.

She instinctively stepped forward to secure a closer look at him. The brownish-black layered fringes and distinctly-shaped jawline with sharp chin struck her as all so familiar. She called out, "Aren't you...Wa-...Wa-...?"

He was startled and took out a mini clothespin from somewhere to pinch his nose, "Excuse me, here's your copy, okay? And make sure you return once completed." He managed to feign a different voice and turned away.

Gui Gui did not give up and grabbed his arm before he could escape her notice, "I know now...that 'Prince'!! Yes, you are!"

He still struggled to free himself from her grasp and averted her firm gaze. Gui Gui wondered why and then broke through her own limits of restraint to press her hand hard against his mouth, causing Wang Zi to cough out in suffocation.

Following, some avid fangirls from a distance observed the eye-catching interaction between the object of their pursuit and Gui Gui. They squealed at the top of their voice and came running towards the two. "Wang Zi!!" Their high-pitched screams caught his attention.

"Gosh..." he quickly took Gui Gui's hand and pulled her along to run away from those frenzied girls' chase.

Down the street after at least five blocks, and turning about even more corners, Gui Gui and Wang Zi finally were able to escape from those people upon hiding themselves behind a public washroom.

When the coast was clear, Gui Gui glared at Wang Zi with indignation over the kind of trouble he has led her into. She let go of her hand, "Why do you need to run away from them?"

Wang Zi found little sense in her lack of understanding, "Can't you see their over-reaction and idolising behaviour??"

Gui Gui could not be bothered, "Really that serious??" She then saw the papers he was holding onto and took one of them, "So this is the questionnaire you were talking about?" Studying it, she became puzzled, "Hey, your respondents are Commerce students...Why are you asking psychological questions??"

Wang Zi leaned his tired back against the wall and closed his eyes, sighing, "Can't I? Just want to know more about..."

His pause made Gui Gui look. Taking off his cap, he merely shrugged, "Those are all I can come up with..."

After getting his brief reply, Gui Gui shook her head, "You don't sound that creative..." She then spotted beads of perspiration dripping down his temples due to their close proximity. Taking out a packet of tissue, she reached out to his face but just a split second before touching him, she drew back in confusion over what she was about to do.

Wang Zi then sat upright once more and turned to her, "You're going to fill that out, right?"

Gui Gui pondered for a moment and answered, "Can you give me some time to do this? I won't return it by today though..."

He doubted, "Huh? It's only a short 25 questions by the way..."

"Oh, please," Gui Gui pleaded. "I don't need your lollipop...but I promise you will get this back from me, okay?"

After some consideration, he nodded to comply with her request. "Thanks!" Gui Gui expressed gleefully but then covered her nose. "I can't stand the foul smell around this restroom's area..."

Wang Zi laughed at her childish pouting expression and took out that clothespin once again to clip it playfully over her nose, "Now, feel any better?"

"Oh you!" Gui Gui whined. He quickly got up and walked away, leaving her to continue protesting and catch up with him. "Hey wait...there's something I wanna..." she reached into her bag and got out the bottle of herbal oil.

He realised and asked, "Did you use it?"

Gui Gui turned uneasy as she tried to avoid locking gaze with him, "Well,...thanks anyway!" She shoved it into his hands and ran on her way wearing a subtle smile.

Watching her leaving, Wang Zi then glanced at the bottle he was holding onto and felt somewhat bemused over the simplicity of their parting.


	10. Chapter 10: Abundant Return

The next day, walking down a path on campus, Wang Zi has a pair of earphones plugged over his ears listening to his player. As the music instilled some random thought in his mind, he began to ponder over what happened the day before.

Flashback...

After hiding behind a public washroom, Gui Gui could not be bothered, "Really that serious??" She then saw the papers he was holding onto and took one of them, "So this is the questionnaire you were talking about?" Studying it, she became puzzled, "Hey, your respondents are Commerce students...Why are you asking psychological questions??"

Wang Zi leaned his tired back against the wall and closed his eyes, sighing, "Can't I? Just want to know more about..."

His pause made Gui Gui look. Taking off his cap, he merely shrugged, "Those are all I can come up with..."

After getting his brief reply, Gui Gui shook her head, "You don't sound that creative..."

End of flashback...

Now, he doubted on whether how much of what she said holds true. He has been trying out many things since high school. Yet, nothing spectacular or that which gained him much attention, came out of it all. Just like the song that was being played right now, it made him wondered if the day when he can composes or even merely writing the lyrics itself, should it be easier, will come by.

Then, he sensed somewhat not right, and looked behind him.

At a far corner, Tong Tong, who had been secretly following him, immediately hid at an obscure spot to prevent being spotted.

Wang Zi thought it strange for he did feel there was a someone appearing familiar. Looking about, he decided to shrug it off and turned back around.

"Ahhh..." the hasty Gui Gui bumped into him and subsequently sent the thick pile of papers she was carrying to escape her loose grip and scattered all over the ground. She rubbed her forehead in pain.

When he finally recognised her, Wang Zi apologised, "Sorry, how did you end up here?" He stooped down to pick up those papers with her.

Gui Gui sighed, "If it's not for your survey questionnaires having a watermark of your school on them, I wouldn't have came over..."

Gathering the many fallen sheets, he noticed that Gui Gui's hands no longer have bruises on them. A soft smile crept onto his face upon reasoning that the herbal oil he gave really worked indeed.

Watching them from a distance, Tong Tong gasped, "Isn't she...that girl from the library?? Oh, no wonder the scent on the book has been changed from daisy's to strawberry's..." She tugged hard at the strap of her bag, "And when I flipped through, there was no sign of my bookmark!!"

Wang Zi and Gui Gui found themselves seats on a nearby bench. She then asked him, "What caused you to be so absent-minded just now? Otherwise, we wouldn't have knocked into each other..."

He hesitated to disclose that he had been thinking about that mindful remark she gave him the other day. Switching the subject, he asked, "Why so many copies here?...Didn't I just give you yours only??" He checked through each page, wondering which was that certain significant one.

"Come on," Gui Gui urged. "Ain't it a good idea to get as many survey participants as possible? They're gonna help you alot when it comes to statistics...And..."

He turned to her, "And what??"

Gui Gui shut her eyes and clasped her hands together, pleading, "When are you gonna start the draw for that $100 worth of prizes??"

Her question struck him deep...

Flashback...

Being petite was an advantage and she soon came to stand before a person busy digging out lollipops to eager bystanders. When everyone seemed to care less of what his survey was all about and kids from all directions started helping themselves to the goodies despite his attempt to stop them, the situation soon went out of control. He then quickly handed out the remaining unfilled questionnaires before the crowd scattered.

"Here, any more Commerce undergraduates? Before I forget, everyone who participated will be entered in a draw with a $100 worth of prizes, alright?" His voice aroused curiosity in Gui Gui.

End of flashback...

"Oh no," Wang Zi moaned within himself in silence and looked away.

Hearing no reply, Gui Gui opened her eyes, "Wang Zi!! Were you listening to me?"

It's the first time that he heard Gui Gui pronounced his nick with overwhelming clarity and emotions. He then faced her, placing a hand on her shoulder, wanting to be all honest with her, and spoke, "You see, I hate to say this but, during that moment, I was all tired and desperate, after sweating alot under the sun, hoping to finish distributing whatever was left in my hands...So..."

Gui Gui's gaze turned from empathy to pitiful and to speak so much of helplessness. Wang Zi then continued, "Again, I'm running out of my monthly allowances...so I will definitely go broke if I...if I..."

"Wahhh!!" Gui Gui wailed out loud before he could complete. Seeing her so saddened all of a sudden, he patted her shoulder lightly to comfort. Yet, she continued to cry audibly with regret that Wang Zi could do nothing less than offer her to rest on his shoulder.

"Goodness!" Tong Tong was now steaming with jealousy and had the her bag's handle all creased from her grip.

After the dejection died down, Gui Gui composed herself and sat up, "Anyway, you have your reason...but I still think that giving false promises to innocent people is not a good thing to do..."

"Sorry," Wang Zi looked down and continue with his quest to search through the papers.

Gui Gui shrugged and turned to him again, this time, more determined, "So I will help you out!"

Wang Zi was confused, "Help out??"

She nodded earnestly, "Yup! I'll tell you more by the time I do manage to pull together some resources..." Next second, her stomach growled loud enough for both of them to be aware of.

"You hungry??" he asked with concern.

Gui Gui admitted, "To save time, I ran all the way from my school to this university of yours...and skipped lunch." She then clutched her stomach and braced herself, "Gosh...think I'm getting gastric already...so painful..."

Wang Zi grew worried. He quickly stuffed the papers into his bag and took her hand, helping her up, "Come...I'll bring you to the cafeteria..."

Gui Gui forced a smile, "Thanks..."

"I won't be able to smile if I were you," Wang Zi wondered how she was able to maintain her tone of resilience at such a time. He took down his earphones and offered to her, "Something to distract yourself way from focusing on your upset stomach.

She gratefully put them on and listened, "You're not that bad of a guy, are you? Oh...soothing ballads...are you that sentimental?"

He didn't answer but merely gazed warmly at her with implicit ambiguity. Gui Gui found herself unknowingly drawn to that tacit yet indirect expression of his.

Over at Tong Tong, she could barely withstand the sight of both of them and there was no way she could hear their conversation being that far where she was. Biting her lip, she was extremely annoyed, "Sharing the same pair of earphones...Just who does she think she is!! I must find out..."


	11. Chapter 11: Heartfelt Assistance

In her bedroom, Gui Gui sat down on the floor and rested her head over the shiny metal box she just placed on the cozy bed. Staring blankly into space, her mind was fussing over what kind of ultimate decision she would make.

Then, zapping back to reality, she held onto the box and shook it a little. The slight noise it made made her started to mentally calculate the sum of her 5 years' savings inside. At such thought, she let out a loud moan, "What shall I do? To help or not to?? A $100..."

Ya Tou walked up to her and knelt down, sighing, "Don't tell me you will have to pluck out each and every rose petals to decide...Dear me...I still have to think of ways to get back my passport from the other side of the universe, to figure out how to get back to the Land of Fantaisie...But it seems, just solving your daily problems is enough to keep me occupied for each day's 24 Earth Hours..."

Unfeeling towards the heavenly being's presence, it appeared that they were so close, yet so far apart. Gui Gui scratched her head and grabbed a bolster half-her-height to bury herself under it.

Seeing her so frustrated, Ya Tou was burning with overflowing compassion. She reached out with both her hands through the bolster's material and touched Gui Gui's temples on each side. Then, she closed her eyes to focus and understand more of her charge's situation.

Seconds afterwards, Ya Tou finished her task, "Okay...no problem!!"

Under the weight of her dilemma, Gui Gui was almost falling asleep, should it not be a sudden playing of music awakened her senses. She sat up again and looked about, "What's that?!"

Taking her savings box and hugging it tight, she at last realised where the sound was coming from. Lifting up her precious belonging, she wondered when was the last time she has set up such function. Studying it, there was also a never-before seen little dialog screen plus keypad on it behind the lock.

Gui Gui read, "Sorry, this mini savings bank is password-protected. In order to unlock, please input the title of the song you are currently listening to. Over..."

"Goodness...I don't have the time to go after pop songs...much less know their names!" Gui Gui protested. She got up and paced about anxiously, "This song...this song..." Then, the longer the tune caught her ears, a tinge of familiarity surfaced. She snapped, "Yes, I first heard this today...Wang Zi's player! Oh, I didn't ask him the title...And I don't have his phone number..." Thus, she has no other option but to meet up with him the day after.

From the side, Ya Tou smiled with satisfaction that she could come up with such a solution.

Over in Wang Zi's home, it was a tough job which took him over 3 hours to complete his search for Gui Gui's completed questionnaire. Yet, it was just the only one without the respondent's name filled in. Taking the anonymous sheet, he finally to settle onto his bed, although rather confused. Thinking, his doubts could not be answered, "'Gui Gui' - how am I supposed to know which Chinese characters they comprise of...?" Added to that, could she have written down her real name?

He felt like knocking his head for not asking why the girl would give such a ghostly nick to herself. However, he still bet on it that there was a 45% chance that the sheet could be hers. He then pulled out his book of Psychological Tests and began checking her responses.

On the other hand, in her room, Tong Tong, who had been waiting since that day's late afternoon, now got a call back. Displaying a malicious smile, she answered, "What's the outcome?"

The caller reported, "Yes, Senior Tong Tong...I had looked up West Street's Library database...the book is still being borrowed...until now, it hasn't been returned even once...that person is a girl..."

"Okay, thank you...just continue to investigate...I want more details next time," she demanded before hanging up. Setting down her cellphone, she headed out of the room to the bar counter downstairs in the three-storey home to pour herself a drink.

Sitting herself on the high stool with a glass in hand, recall of the day's suspicious interaction between Wang Zi and that girl flooded her mind. Taking a light sip, she was determined to make use of the least amount of time possible to uncover their hidden relationship.


	12. Chapter 12: Anticipated Access

The dimly-lit path gradually brightened as Gui Gui marched ahead. At the end of the path, two doors appeared side by side. She walked closer up to them and read the signs hanging on each of them. On her left was 'Destiny' while the right was 'Chance'.

She really wanted to know what lay behind those two doors. Scratching her head and wondering which doorknob she should place her hand on, a sharp blinding light suddenly flashed before her. It then disappeared to reveal a golden key dangling in the air.

"Thank you," Gui Gui expressed gratefully as she reached out her hand to grab hold of it. Thinking through, she decided and tried inserting the key into the 'Chance' door.

A voice then reverberated through the area, startling Gui Gui to draw back. Sensing that she somehow heard it before from somewhere, doubts began to fill her heart.

"You need only one key for both doors, I suppose..." the voice advised. Gui Gui could recognise it to be most probably a girl almost the same age as her speaking.

"Who are you?? Do you mean I can try both doors at the same time?..." Gui Gui questioned aloud. However, she realised it was not logical, "Wait, only one key but two keyholes...I can't slide in simultaneously...Errr...Hello? Is there any locksmith nearby to get me another duplicate of this same key, whoever you are??" Gui Gui could not believe that such words would come out of her mouth and silly mind.

"Uh...then..." the girl's voice sounded confused. Then, Gui Gui stepped back and felt like tracing the source where the mysterious being was speaking from. However, next second, the ground shook uncontrollably.

"Gui Gui...Gui Gui...can you hear me?" another voice called through.

Nudging her lightly for the past few minutes, Gui Gui was slowly awakened from her dream. She rubbed her eyes open and saw Wang Zi looking at her with concern. Aware now that she had fallen asleep on the bench, she instantly sat up and grasped his hands, "Did I drop the key??"

He asked her back, "What key??"

Gui Gui realised she had been too overwhelmed by the dream. Cursing herself quietly for saying nonsense, she quickly let go of her hand to apologise, "Sorry...I'm just out of my mind..."

He smiled at her naivety, "Had a nightmare??"

"Oh," she didn't dare to look straight at him. "Yeah...a pretty weird one too..." Her gaze fell inadvertently on her bag beside her which made her remember, "Ah yes...I was waiting to ask for one little help from you..." Unzipping her bag, she took out her precious savings box and pressed to play the music for him to listen.

He glanced at it briefly and told, "Looks cute...this song is..."

"Is...??" Gui Gui hoped he could say it quick.

Taking some time to ponder, he then finally snapped, "Destiny Love!!"

"Huh?" she was taken aback upon being reminded of that dream again.

"I'm sure!" Wang Zi affirmed with confidence.

"Oh," Gui Gui was disturbed by the title in some way but still, she keyed in. Afterwards, the dialog screen said, "Accepted. Please listen to the following song..."

She could barely stand it, "Why so many?!"

Wang Zi then asked her, "So you coming to this school again is to answer songs' titles for you??"

Gui Gui turned to him sheepishly, "I've got no choice...This savings box of mine suddenly got its lock password-protected...Furthermore, that....." She suddenly paused upon not being certain whether to let him know that she would helped him with that $100-draw...

He nodded, "Okay, I'll sure give you a hand...This one is...called...'Blissful...Chance'!"

"Gosh," Gui Gui just felt like punching herself. Why must everything has to do with that crazy dream?

"What's wrong?" he saw that she seemed disappointed.

"Oh, no..." she hastily typed in the name. Yet, once it was accepted, another song started to play again.

"When's this ever gonna end?" Gui Gui moaned.

Upon paying attention to the music, Wang Zi suddenly turned sober. On the side, Gui Gui also found it rather captivating. She could recall, "This is...familiar...I've come across before..." Humming along with it, she sang out the chorus, "Happy Birthday...To Me...It's love that I should believe in..."

"Yes!!" Gui Gui exclaimed with surging delight and hurriedly entered the again. To her amazement, her savings box was finally unlocked. She quickly turned to Wang Zi to thank him from the bottom of her heart. However, he merely looked away nonchalantly.

She could tell that something was not right, "Wang Zi...what's the problem?"

He continued to pretend in not being the least interested and still avoided her gaze. Out of impulse, Gui Gui pressed her palms hard on both his cheeks in an effort to turn him to face her directly, "Just what's gone wrong??"

Wang Zi grabbed her hands, and pronounced his question with much difficulty, "Are you that eager to deform my face?"

Following, something struck her mind, "Got it...Tell me if today's your birthday?!"

He finally succeeded in pulling her hands away from his face. Yet, her grip was still firm on his. Wang Zi remained quiet as he thought of how long he has not celebrate his own birthday. He mentally calculated it to be 14 years. In order to hide it from everyone, he would only give a fake date to people who asked of him. Just this fact was enough to sadden him. Now, before this girl he had recently got acquainted with, he somehow felt that there was no use in lying to her about the truth.

"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Gui Gui urged and she sounded as though she already knew his answer.

"Well, it's nothing to..." he could hardly finished his sentence before Gui Gui interrupted again.

"A Birthday's a Birthday...How can you say it's nothing?" she retorted.

The strong effect of Gui Gui's clinch on his arms made him winced a little. She looked down only to notice that there was some bruises on them.

Flashback...

From across the road, Gui Gui was pacing ahead with record-breaking speed as the pedestrian light was rapidly blinking. On the other side, Wang Zi was about to finish his drawing and lifted his gaze to decide from the immediate surroundings, on what kind of background to accompany the rough portrait. In a flash, wondering whether his eyes was playing tricks on him, he instinctively set down his notepad. Almost could not believe that he has spotted a girl carrying that familiar-looking book, he took steps forward only to realise that luck was finally on his side.

Still rushing, Gui Gui had a thought suddenly interrupting her attention sharply. She gasped, "I forgot to get my paycheck from Mr Lee!! Gosh, yesterday was my last day...Ahhh!!" Unwilling to handle any loss, she spun around last moment to charge back to where she had came from.

Alerting to her running away, Wang Zi hurried to across the street and called out loud after Gui Gui, "Hey!! Excuse me, Wait up!!!"

Gui Gui turned about but in a split second, a side-glance averted her attention to a truck heading fast towards the intersection as the pedestrian light had stopped. The driver honked and subsequently, Wang Zi noticed the danger. He ran fast and grabbed Gui Gui firmly before leaping high over the remaining crossing. Through the air and just before they were to end up knocking against a tough lamppost, Gui Gui was petrified and shut her eyes to brace the would-be result of the hurting impact behind her. At this instant, Wang Zi recognise the risk. He pulled Gui Gui towards himself and pitched his free arm to cushion the blow in between her back and the hard steel.

End of Flashback...

Realisation dawned on her as she asked him, "Is it because of that day's incident?"

He looked up at her worried eyes, "Nothing serious actually..."

"Where's that herbal oil of yours? Didn't you use it?" Gui Gui demanded.

Her sudden unease intrigued him somewhat. He replied, "It's in my bag pocket..."

"What are you waiting for then?" she implied.

Wang Zi got her message and took it out from his bag. He started applying but when the turn came for his right hand bruises, his other hand was not that capable.

"Need help??" Gui Gui smilingly offered with generosity.

He hesitated and before even answering her, Gui Gui already grabbed the bottle. She then reached out to take his hand to rub the oil over.

"Thanks," he uttered.

Shotting brief glances up at the awkward expression on his face every once in a while, Gui Gui slowly opened up to him, "Was there ever once when your birthday gave you a rather unpleasant experience??"

Her question aroused some emotions buried deep inside him.

Seeing him quiet bothered, she continued, "I once heard a story...It goes like one day, a teacher decided to teach a special lesson to her students...She told each one of them to think of stuff which triggered unhappiness in their daily lives and to count them out. Some students had few while others had many. So what happened was that the teacher told them to write out each unhappy matter in their memories on potatoes. It turned out that the the longer the list of sad things in their lives, the more number of potatoes they would have. The teacher said they have to carry those potatoes with them everywhere they go for a week. As the days passed, the children started to complain about the spoiled smell that started coming from those potatoes. Those students who had many also complained that it was very heavy to carry them around. So the lesson is that the situation is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you're unhappy. It makes your heart unhealthy and you carry that sadness everywhere you go..."

Taking in what she said, Wang Zi thought about the analogy with his own situation. When Gui Gui was done and kept away the herbal oil, he pulled her into a hug.

She was quite surprised, "Wang Zi..."

"Sorry," he said to her ear and Gui Gui guessed that from the sound of his voice, he must be closed to tears. He went on, "I'm just touched...Thank you..."

Gui Gui could empathise with how he was feeling at the moment. She looked at her watch, then pulled apart to grasp his hand, "Since it's your special day, we can't let it just pass without a celebration!"

He was taken aback by her suggestion, "But it's already late evening..."

She couldn't care more, "Come on, I know where we shall head to...Just follow me!" She took her bag and dragged him along as Wang Zi wondered curiously what kind of idea she would have in mind.


	13. Chapter 13: Momentous Evening

Gui Gui led Wang Zi to enter through a certain backdoor and told him, "This restaurant is where I had worked before...Come, follow me..."

The inside was sort of dark as most lights were turned off already. By the time they reached the front where the dining area was, Gui Gui saw and recognised a lady. She greeted her aloud, "Auntie Susie! Good thing you haven't left yet!"

The lady smiled happily and rushed up to hug her, "Gui Gui, long time no see! You seem to lose some weight already..."

Gui Gui nodded, "I miss you all..."

The lady patted her, "Me too...Okay, just as you've asked, the mango mousse cake is in the kitchen...Eat more, you're just too thin, Gui Gui..."

"Thanks alot, Auntie Susie, you've been a great help!" Gui Gui expressed.

When they pulled apart, Auntie Susie only noticed by now, the quiet guy, Wang Zi, who has been watching them from the side. She asked, "So you're Gui Gui's boyfriend??"

The two turned to each other uneasily. Wang Zi was about to deny but Gui Gui was fast to say before he did, "Auntie, he's not!"

"But there're only you both here," the curious lady only undermined Gui Gui's answer. She then urged, "Okay, I won't be a third-wheel...Enjoy your sweet time, alright!" Auntie Susie then pulled Gui Gui close and said to her ear, "Your taste has improved alot...He's absolutely stunning...Auntie Susie wish you people happiness always!"

Gui Gui frowned and shook her head, "No, you're wrong...he's really not whom you think..." However, her protest was totally useless as the kind old colleague quickly bade goodbye and went on her way after leaving the keys behind.

When they were left alone, both faced each other awkwardly. Gui Gui then tried to shake off all misunderstandings and showed Wang Zi the way into the kitchen.

Once they entered, she started looking about, "Just where had she placed the cake?"

Wang Zi helped her as well since the kitchen was really big, "Sorry to cause you so much trouble...But I really don't mind if we don't celebrate at all..."

Upon hearing what she said, Gui Gui walked up to him and turned Wang Zi to face her, "Listen, I don't want to hear any more excuses of not celebrating your birthday...If there had been unhappiness in the past, why not start anew to create a better beginning? Everyone on earth loves to have their birthdays remembered, agree with me on this?!"

Seeing how eager she was, Wang Zi was intrigued by what she said as they sounded so close to his heart. He smiled slightly and couldn't help but nodded in response.

"That's right...Now, let's continue to search every corner," she urged him.

Over in Gui Gui's home, Ya Tou was met with another problematic issue. The time was already half past seven in the evening but Gui Gui still hasn't return. In the living room, her parents were pacing about worriedly. Ya Tou remained stuck in Gui Gui's room, brainstorming for ways to reach the girl who has strangely lost track of time all of a sudden.

She hastily waved a hand but only a pair of fluttering butterflies appeared. Ya Tou snapped for them to disappear, "Oh please...now calm down, Senior Ya Tou, you can do it..." She then concentrated hard. A few seconds afterwards, she waved with both hands again. A gadget dropped from the air. Ya Tou opened her eyes and squealed, "Yeah! My PDA! After so so long...I'm extremely glad now!" She pressed a button.

Back in the restaurant, Gui Gui and Wang Zi still haven't managed to succeed in finding the cake. It was getting late and Gui Gui sighed. Taking out her cellphone, she thought of calling Auntie Susie and punched her number. However, she paused halfway after deciding it would be better not to disturb her. In an attempt to cancel the call, Gui Gui also wrongly pressed a key without realising.

"Connected!" Ya Tou's PDA announced. She was finally able to get in touch with what was happening at Gui Gui's end.

"Oh dear, just where's that cake? We can't have a birthday without it..." Gui Gui moaned while still checking out more shelves in the kitchen.

"A birthday?" Ya Tou wondered upon listening to what Gui Gui had complained about. Then, through the screen on her all-purpose communications tool, she also spotted Wang Zi helping Gui Gui to search for something.

She glanced at the desktop calendar and thought, "Could he be that Aries guy?" Following, she keyed in all handy info into a program on her PDA.

After some waiting, a box popped up, "MATCHED!!" Ya Tou understood now and decided to help out the two.

In the kitchen, Gui Gui, who has been so absorbed in her attempts, suddenly stepped on a tiny bit of slippery left-over batter and slipped. Out of desperation and losing her balance, she grasped onto Wang Zi's sleeve infront of her for support but ended up pulling him down along with herself to land on the floor in a clumsy fall, "Ahh!!"

In the process of knocking against each other's faces, Wang Zi also got hit backwards to the cabinet behind him and inadvertently pulled it open as he tried to clutch unto the knob. Gui Gui got up slowly and held her hurting arm. "Are you okay?" Wang Zi asked.

"Oh...what luck," she lamented and offered a hand to help him up as well.

"Gui Gui," he then pointed out to what was before them. "Is that what we've been looking for?"

She moved closer and upon seeing it jumped up in joy, "Yes! It's the cake!"

They quickly took it out to place it on the counter. Gui Gui grabbed out a pastry bag filled with Royal Icing and started piping out some words, "Happy Birthday to...Wang...Zi..."

Before she got to the last two words, Wang Zi stopped her. "What's wrong?" she inquired.

He pondered for a second and said, "It seems that I haven't told you my real name yet, right??"

She became aware, "So you want me to put that?"

"Well," he still nodded somewhat.

"Then can you tell me?" she smiled.

He then revealed, "It's Qiu Sheng Yi..."

"Hmmm...nice name...and very special too," Gui Gui considered for a while. She came up with an idea, "Why not put 'Wang Zi Qiu Sheng Yi'?"

"You sure?" he hesitated.

"Oh come on, it sounds cool!" Gui Gui simply piped out just what she had said.

Once done, they have a look at the words briefly before Gui Gui decided, "So we are set to go now?"

Wang Zi still continued to study it for some time before he requested for the piping bag from Gui Gui. She was curious, "Did I miss out on anything?"

He then added further in that tiny remaining space beside what Gui Gui had done and squeezed out the words, "Thanks to Gui Gui..."

"Ahh! Two names on a single birthday cake...We're like twins!" Gui Gui exclaimed after observing the way Wang Zi did with much better skill and expertise than her on the cursive letters. She could not help but utter deep in her thought, "Looks more like a 'Wedding Cake' to me..." A hideous smile crept onto her face.

After judging that all looked perfect now, they brought the cake out of the restaurant and headed into the open. At last after some walking, they found a scenic spot on a waterfront promenade overlooking a beautiful bridge in the distant view which spanned across a wide river.

Gui Gui could finally enjoy the cool night air to relax herself. Taking out the candles and some matches, she quickly placed them on the cake and lighted them up.

Sitting beside her, Wang Zi never thought that such a day would ignite special new-found meaning again in his life.

"Okay now," Gui Gui clasped her hands together. "I'm going to sing a birthday song to our Superstar tonight, 'Wang Zi Qiu Sheng Yi'..."

He just got to smile at how adorable she was as Gui Gui sang sweetly to his listening pleasure. Her voice was lovely and too catchy to be described in plain words.

"Happy Birthday to you...Come Wang Zi, make a wish before blowing the candles," she told.

He laughed, "You already knew my real name as Qiu Sheng Yi...why still call me 'Wang Zi'?"

Gui Gui gave a thought before replying earnestly, "'Cause...like a Prince in a fairytale...I feel...that should you really found your very own Princess one day...you'll definitely love her single-heartedly forever and ever always!"

After finishing her words, Wang Zi only gazed silently but softly into Gui Gui's eyes. Such response only made her wonder how silly she had been to offer this kind of naive explanation. She then realised her heart was naturally beating faster.

Next, to her relief, Wang Zi merely closed his eyes and started wishing before the candles. Eyes focused attentively on his sharp and distinct facial features, Gui Gui got to admit along with Auntie Susie, "He does look great..."

It took him an unreasonably long time to figure out what in his heart he would like to have fulfilled. Many scenes flashed across his mind, be they from the fragile past or the eventful present. Things he would like to set aside as well as those he wanted to hold on dearly for as long as possible in his life. Then, out of the blue, what Gui Gui last mentioned to him rang in his ears.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Gui Gui gone. Wang Zi quickly got up and looked about, only to spot her at a far end approaching some kids.

Gui Gui stooped down before the little boy and pulled out a pair of keychains which were attached to her bag, "Here you go...the one is 'Winnie, the Pooh'...that one is his good buddy, 'Piglet'..."

"Thank you," the little boy replied gratefully and exchanged for those with her four handy sticks of fireworks he has got.

Gui Gui then rushed excitedly towards Wang Zi with those burning fireworks in hand. She happily offered him one of the pairs.

"Thanks," he expressed gladly.

She smiled, "So how? Has this last-minute birthday bash meet up to our Prince's expectations??"

"All honour due to Gui Gui," he added. An idea struck him and Wang Zi quickly got out his cellphone, "Let's not forget to preserve a wonderful moment of ours together this minute..." They then posed before it to take a delightful picture worth cherishing for.


	14. Chapter 14: Uncalled Revelations

In the Land of Fantaisie, Cupid Xiao Jie managed to sneak into the Tower of Commons at long last to carry out his plan. Reaching a certain floor, he flew his way past billions and billions of glistening diamond crystal filing cabinets to come to the right one. He quickly pulled open the top drawer and browsed through the many folders of sophomore cupids' annual achievement reports. His sharp eyes were a great advantage to help him speedily located the only one he needed. Taking out Ya Tou's folder and flipping it to see, he was abruptly astounded to find that it had turned into a thick sheet of solemn contract already sealed by the Senate. He hid it under his robe and teleported out of the area.

On this morning, Wang Zi woke up to the day after an eventful previous evening. All those lovely moments he had shared with Gui Gui still remained fresh in his heart and mind. By the bedside, there was placed a newly-drawn more accurate sketch of her which he had done the night before. Pushing aside the pillow, he sat up and studied his latest work. Following, he decided that he would change his mind of dropping out of that Art class after a number of promising attempts. He then kept the sketchpad back into the drawer and got out of bed to ready himself for school.

After spending some time in the bathroom, he ventured into the kitchen and aimed straight to the fridge. He smiled upon spotting the remaining slices of his birthday cake still in a container. Taking it out, he noticed there was an envelope of something stuck under the plastic container. Opening it, there was a $100 bill inside along with a piece of note. He read, "I said that I will help you out with your survey's draw, didn't I? Good Luck, Gui Gui..."

Wang Zi did not expect this from her in the least. He thought she was simply joking the other day. Yet, he admired the fact that she could be so earnest in such a pure-hearted way. Quickly stuffing the container of cakes into a bag, he figured that he should drop by to see her.

Later that day on his way to the school's campus, Wang Zi stopped by the book cleaning store in hope of meeting Gui Gui. Walking up to the door, he saw a 'Closed' sign hanging over the window. Cursing his luck, he tried to peer through to see if there was anyone inside. All lights were out and so he turned about to leave.

"Woah!!" The store owner standing quietly just right infront of him scared the wits out of Wang Zi.

He smiled, "Sorry to have frightened you, young man...I recognise you to be Gui Gui's...friend??"

Wang Zi nodded awkwardly, "Do you know if she will be coming by today??"

The man gave a brief thought before shaking his head, "She just told me that she will be going on vacation for at least a month...That's why I can't open the shop as often as before...Well, what about you, young man? Wanna consider working for me??"

"Huh?" Wang Zi was surprised. "I don't know if I can handle..."

He simply dismissed, "No worries, I'll train you! Just think about it, okay?" Taking out his keys, he walked over to unlock the door.

Wang Zi spend some moment pondering and then held up the bag of cakes he had brought along. Turning back to see the owner entering the shop, he rushed up to him and inquired, "Is she really not coming for sure? I have something here for her..."

Heeding Wang Zi's pleading, he flashed a lop-sided smile, "Good guts, you're a determined person...Here, I'll write down her address and phone number for you...I'm guessing that she hasn't left the country yet...haha...We should not give up on our pursuits that easily!"

"Thanks! You're very helpful..." Wang Zi expressed gratefully.

In a secluded gazebo, Xiao Jie has on the table over a hundred opened ancient scrolls and files just so in order to make out the meanings of the whole mysterious contract he founded earlier. However, even up till the end of the laborious day, he was only able to understand one harsh clear statement on the last page.

"One of the pair of sophomore cupids will be liable for a curse pronounced out of trespassing the River of Flurries for 41-and-2/3 Cupid days. Based on the outcome of an undisclosed judging procedure, this ultimate bearer of impending hardship is likely to be Cupid Ya Tou," Xiao Jie read with trembling hands. Once he beheld the seriousness of the tone highlighted by such heavy stolen secret, he quickly rolled up the contract. Moaning with guilt, he buried his face in his hands and felt as though he had just been stabbed deep by a double-edged sword. "Oh no, what shall I do now? How can the situation turn out to be this way??" He ought to better work out a remedy as fast as possible.


	15. Chapter 15: Warm Gift

Gui Gui finished reading the last Economics textbook she had borrowed and heaved a sigh. She checked the desktop calendar which highlighted that the library books she has with her would be due to return by tomorrow. She was glad that there was no need for her to extend another week. She got up and placed the book into her bag. Following, the doorbell suddenly sounded.

Gui Gui hurried out to answer it. To her surprise, it's a mailman delivering a huge parcel.

"This one is addressed to 'Gui Gui'," he informed.

"Huh? Me?" She quickly signed for him and expressed thanks.

Carrying the thing into the house, Gui Gui found it extremely heavy. She felt it and could somewhat guessed what it was all about. Tearing the paper wrapper open, she was much more astonished to find it a beautifully-framed and painted portrait of herself.

She gasped and next second, her cellphone sounded. "Hello??" she answered.

"Hi, it's me," he said.

Gui Gui realised, "Wang Zi?!"

"Yeah...have you seen it?" he asked the obvious.

Gui Gui asked to make sure, "Don't tell me you're the one who sent this?"

He chuckled, "Do you like the portrait?"

"Oh, it's marvellous...did you paint the whole thing?" Gui Gui was extremely amazed.

"Well,...yes..." he admitted sheepishly.

Something dropped from the underside of the painting and Gui Gui picked it up. "Hey, you did not use this $100 I gave you??" she wondered.

"Aha...don't worry about that, I'm going to receive my next month's allowance soon...so by then, I'll manage it all," he told.

"I see," Gui Gui nodded. Then, there was an uneasy pause on the line as both tried to come up with something to say next.

"Right!" She snapped and then asked Wang Zi if he has returned his book to the library.

"Err...should be still with me, if I'm not wrong..." He pulled out his bedside drawer.

Gui Gui hastily advised, "You had better return it by tomorrow's deadline..."

"Oh, alright...but...will you be going to the library too? Or you will be leaving for your vacation??" he inquired confusedly.

"Vacation??"

"Your boss said that you will be taking one month-long vacation," Wang Zi reminded.

"Oh...that one...actually, because I was out until past midnight yesterday...so I got grounded by my parents...they said I can't work for one month so to make me spend more time at home...I was just making up an excuse to my boss so to keep away from misunderstandings," Gui Gui confessed.

Wang Zi was a little perturbed that Gui Gui has to bear such consequence as a result of her celebrating his birthday for him. He continued, "Sorry about that..."

Gui Gui simply dismissed, "No worries...I can relax more anyway...Also, by the way, I will be returning some books too tomorrow." She smiled upon thinking so.

"Then, why don't we meet up there as well?" he suggested.

"Okay!" Gui Gui said gladly.

"See you then!" he bade.

"Bye," she soon hung up. Taking up the piece of wonderful portrait again, Gui Gui was even more mesmerised by his artistic talent.

Across the other side of the universe, Xiao Jie was standing by the shoreline of a borderless deserted ocean. Holding a pair of booklets close to himself, he has finally made the decision.

"Since the matter has turned out to be this dead serious, I got to bring Ya Tou back and settle the issue," he uttered solemnly. Closing his eyes, he grasped hard onto those he has in his hands. His deep focus and concentration then caused him disappearing and vanished into thin air, leaving the Land of Cupids.


	16. Chapter 16: Eventual Discovery

The next day, Wang Zi has come to the library and while waiting for Gui Gui, he sat on the bench by the entrance to engage in sketching some drawings on his notepad again. It was still early as he spent his time on doing such. His first page of work was quite decent but then later, the quality was difficult to satisfy him. He tore off the third sketch and crumpled it. Throwing away without second thought, someone approached fast from the street and caught it on time.

"Ahh..." Gui Gui shook her head, "No littering...how can a Prince be this irresponsible?!" She unfolded the piece of creased paper and walked up to his side.

Wang Zi sighed upon realisation, "It's really horrible..."

Gui Gui looked at his work, "What lovely doggy!" She then thought perhaps he could give helpful advice to her when it's time to work on designing her future plushies. Sitting down next to him, she peeked at more of his drawings, "You're so creative!"

He turned to her, "I remember that you ever said I'm not..."

She looked up at him and patted him hard that he nearly choked, "Come on! Everyone is bound to improve if you give more tries!"

"I see," Wang Zi remarked bluntly after coughing a bit.

"Really, you can't be always afraid of the past...Just forge ahead with confidence...Hey, if you're not gonna treasure these, then let me keep them for ya..." Gui Gui pressed hard over the piece of sketch she got to straighten the folds.

"Alright, thanks then," Wang Zi tore off more pages from his notepad and offered them to her.

Gui Gui was disturbed by his attitude, "They're all original...Aren't you going to leave any for yourself?!"

Wang Zi got up next moment to head into the library, leaving Gui Gui to do the same in order to catch up with his brisk pace. "Wait up!" She quickly stuffed everything into her bag but in her haste, she dropped another huge bag she has been carrying and nearly tripped.

He turned around to see some of her books fell off the bag unto the ground. Hurrying up to her side, he bent down to pick them up.

"It's okay, I can do it myself," Gui Gui urged.

Wang Zi did act somewhat faster than usual and reached out to grab the handle of the bag just at the same time when she did so. She lifted her gaze at him after their hands touched each other's.

He expressed, "I'll carry for you..."

Gui Gui was captivated by the penetrative gaze in his eyes but still was sane enough to let go of her hand.

They then entered the building. Upon walking up to the counter, the familiar lady librarian from before recognised them and quickly dodged. She let another staff helped out the two of them appeared to be whispering something into her before she moved away to the adjacent counter.

"Hi, we're returning books," Wang Zi told and helped took out a number of texts together with Gui Gui from her bag.

When they were done, Wang Zi finally got out the troublesome novel, 'Cupid's Helpline' from his own bag. Just then, a bright camera flash emitted from behind them and they heard some footsteps.

"At long last, I got to find out this harsh truth!!" an angry voice resounded through the hall. Wang Zi and Gui Gui spun around to look.

"Qiu Sheng Yi, I was clever enough to not have believed in you! And you will go to the extent of lying to me all because of her!!" Tong Tong stood with brewing indignation before them and pointed at Gui Gui.

Wang Zi stepped in between the two girls and pushed her hand back, "Please don't wrongly accuse, okay?"

Gui Gui tried her best to avoid eye-contact with Tong Tong. She attempted to explain, "Well, actually...it's not Wang Zi's fault either...He's not doing anything for my sake...We don't know each other, right?" She nudged him hard beyond Tong Tong's notice.

Tong Tong only glared at her, "So you have come to call him 'Wang Zi' as well, eh? I don't need anymore lies especially from you, girl...I had even saw you in our school's campus...what else do you have to say?!"

Gui Gui gasped and looked at Wang Zi helplessly. He merely dismissed Tong Tong's cruel words, "Okay, I admitted that I had donated the book to this library...But please don't drag Gui Gui into this mess...She's innocent...It's I the one who should apologise..."

Tong Tong's temper only flared up, "I don't need your heartless, shallow apologies!! You're only explaining for her and not yourself! So she has nothing to do with this...and she's innocent...then what else? You like her?!!"

By now, a majority of people in the library was already watching the three of them. Everyone awaited in tensed silence as to who is going to retort Tong Tong next.

In the end, Wang Zi spoke up, "Yes, you're right! I do like her!!" He then took Gui Gui's hand courageously.

Gui Gui and Tong Tong faced him with unexpected shock.

"Alright now, you group of youngsters!" The lady librarian emerged out of the counter and warned aloud, "Out of this library, immediately!! I have had enough of this show and won't care about your books reaching their deadline anymore! This is just too much!! So out!!" In her fury, she dumped their books into the bag and shoved the three of them out of the exit.

Back in Gui Gui's bedroom, Ya Tou was freely admiring the beautiful portrait painting now hanging on the wall. She clasped her hands together and shut her eyes to meditate thanks, "Gracious Creator of the Universe, I am extremely grateful for the love that's brimming in between these two happy souls...My utmost appreciation for your hand of fate that's looking so caringly and closely over them...May the doors of destiny and chance fused together in a spark of miracle..."

Opening her eyes again, Ya Tou stretched her hand to feel the edge of the painting. Interestingly, what seemed to be an unusually thick bloat of paint at first glance enlightened her senses. On the table, her PDA flashed. She touched it more and realised that it was actually a piece of folded paper rose attached. Pulling it out, she saw the back of it was written, "Happy you found me! Please open!"

Ya Tou did so and there was found a written message in the inside of the folded paper. She read, "Gui Gui, Thank you for a most memorable birthday...I have got to admit, a Princess has finally appeared in my life..."

She was now even more excited for Gui Gui. However, the strange thing is that her PDA still continued to flash. "Huh??" Ya Tou looked around and wondered what could be the cause. When her gaze fell on Gui Gui's portrait again, she jumped back in alarm.

There on the painting was another being stuck in the background beside the drawing of Gui Gui. It has its arms and face pressed hard against the flat surface and filling up just about all the remaining free space inside. Ya Tou screamed and covered her face, "Ahh!! What are you??" She groped for her PDA. Squinting her eyes a tiny bit, she saw a biodata displayed out acknowledging the identity of that mysterious being. She shakily pressed a button.

The painting shone a bright blinding light for some seconds. Ya Tou reached for cover. Then, the being was finally released out. It's a cupid who fell from the inside of the painting and onto Gui Gui's bed beside Ya Tou.

She slowly threw aside the blanket to peep while the other cupid rubbed his eyes open.

"Ahhh!!" Both cried out in unison as they glanced at each other.

Ya Tou instinctively stood up and grabbed her PDA for defence, "You! Don't come near me...Just why are you here?!"

Xiao Jie fixed his hair and brushed aside his long fringes. His head still seemed to be spinning uncontrollably from the impact of travelling across two different universe. He got up from the bed unsteadily trying to gain firm footing but with hardly any success. He held his head and could only mumble insensibly , "I...I...just...want...you..."

"What? Me?" Ya Tou grew nervous as Xiao Jie got all the more closer. She stepped back, only to be stopped by the tough wall right behind her. He continued to behave like a man drunk from drinking 50 bottles of beer. At long last, Ya Tou could not stand it and flapped her wings, took off out of the room, and eventually the house, screaming in fright. Xiao Jie only pitifully tried to regain his awareness and went after her.


	17. Chapter 17: Troubled Indecision

When Gui Gui returned home that evening, she was extremely tired over all that had happened earlier in the library. Flopping onto her bed, she lay thinking over the incident and especially all that Wang Zi had said. Sighing, she shut her eyes to empty of all frustrations for a minute. Strangely, she abruptly felt something was amiss in this empty house. It was intriguing to be aware that these days, all kinds of household chores seemed miraculously completed before Gui Gui's mum and herself could set themselves to complete them. As a result, her mum would disappear almost every evening to enjoy a chat in their neighbour's place. And as for her dad, he was busy with recent new projects in the workplace. She naively concluded that God must have mercifully sent an invisible housekeeping Angel to work for them. Following such thoughts, her attention was interrupted by the alert coming from the cellphone.

She saw that it was an incoming text message and read, "Gui Gui, Sorry for the trouble today...Really, I don't want you to misunderstand, Tong Tong is not my girlfriend...She's just a schoolmate cum long-time friend...I am not intentionally rushing the progress of our relationship. Yet, please don't refrain from letting me know your thoughts...I will always be waiting..."

There was no need for Gui Gui to guess before knowing right away that it was sent by Wang Zi. Coming to think of it, she did somehow misunderstood that Tong Tong was his girlfriend. Now, there was finally a clarification.

She sat up and let her heart wandered aimlessly. Then, her eyes trailed to the sight of a little piece of paper on the carpet. She picked it up and saw there was yet another message written inside it. It read, "Gui Gui, Thank you for a most memorable birthday...I have got to admit, a Princess has finally appeared in my life..."

"Ohmygosh..." she was now even more disturbed. Scratching her head, she looked at the note in her hand again and then all about the silent bedroom. Without much logic, she suddenly felt as though she has no one else in particular tonight to lean on for assistance.

Out in the open, Xiao Jie has been searching around town for signs of Ya Tou. After circling without success all over streets and alleys, he could not stand any further in the end and collasped.

"Just where are you??" he panted while still being sick of the dizzy spell pursuing him all day. Rubbing his warm forehead, he gradually gave in and succumbed bit by bit to unconsciousness.

From a corner, Ya Tou hid peeping at his motionless form. She hesitated seeing him so weak but then, her PDA flashed to require her to help. Taking it out from her robe's pocket, she gave a second thought before pressing the button.

Making up her mind, she flapped her wings and fluttered over to where Xiao Jie laid. Observing his pale sweaty face, she hovered closer to his side.

Touching his temple, she checked her PDA which now showed the scale of a thermometer. A red warning flash appeared and Ya Tou gasped worriedly. She then got down on her knees. Glancing over her shoulder, she reached out to her wings at her back and ran a finger over them. Once she had deemed which one was best, she plucked out one of her wing's feathers.

"Ahh..." Ya Tou braced the pain as blood oozed out a little. She then waved for a needle and thread to appear. Soon, she started sewing gently her feather onto Xiao Jie's wing.

What she did made Xiao Jie stirred a little. He slowly opened his eyes and regained strength. When his vision cleared and he could recognise Ya Tou before him, he uttered confusedly, "It's really you, Ya Tou Senior??"

She hushed him softly, "Don't move, I'm not done with this yet..."

He then realised that she was actually sewing to replenish his energy. Her scent was sweet and soothing as she bent over so close to him.

"Okay!" she finished and helped Xiao Jie sat upright.

He never expected this much from her, "Thank you..."

She returned his gaze with concern, "How do you feel now? Any better?"

He nodded. However, next second, she exclaimed, "Ouch!" She had pricked her finger against the sharp tip of the needle.

"Are you alright?" Xiao Jie hastily reached over and held her hand.

Ya Tou was taken aback by his earnest reaction, "It's okay..." Both looked up at each other and at the close proximity, they blushed at the same time.

Xiao Jie and Ya Tou let go of their hands simultaneously and felt somewhat awkward.

She then tried to come up with something to diffuse the uneasiness between them, "Right, what's your purpose of coming to Earth??"

Xiao Jie pondered thoroughly before answering her, "Well, I think I found your passport one day and decided that you would like to return to the Land of Fantaisie..."

Ya Tou turned to him, "Really?!" She quickly grabbed Xiao Jie's hands next second and beamed with joy, "I'm so glad!! Thank you, fellow Cupid!"

Xiao Jie felt a stab of guilt seeing her so happy, "Don't mention it...It's a must for us to help each other..."

"You're indeed a one kind being!" Ya Tou expressed again. He smiled slightly to empatise with her feelings of elation.

However, briefly afterwards, she was overcome by indecision, "But, I think there's something else I can't really set aside yet..."

"What's that??" he inquired. She faced him with mixed emotions, implying that it's not any light matter.


	18. Chapter 18: Earnest Interest

The next day after school, on her way home, Gui Gui decided to spend some time loitering around town since her parents would not be back so soon before she did.

She sat down on a bench and following, her mind could not help but started recalling the series of incidents that have inevitably happened recently. The more she pondered, she began to get the sense that they seemed so much like a pre-planned adventure so carefully arranged beyond her expectations. She wondered what would Wang Zi be doing at this particular moment...Will he still be in school? Or back home? Or preoccupy himself with sketching some drawings by a certain corner? She then took out a little folder from her bag. Opening it, those were pieces of Wang Zi's artwork which he had simply given her. She smiled seeing those lovely cartoon animals. Just while she was admiring their details, a breeze blew in her direction and one of the sheets slipped from her grasp. She quickly got up to chase after it.

Luckily, she managed not to lose it and just as she turned around to return to the bench, she thought her shoes had kicked against something. Gui Gui looked down and saw a bright shiny key on the ground. She stooped down and picked it up. Beholding it closer, she made out the numbers '414' were engraved on it. Her mind told her that she had come across this before but she could not quite remember why. Then, the appearance of this key struck her as strangely familiar.

Flashback...

The dimly-lit path gradually brightened as Gui Gui marched ahead. At the end of the path, two doors appeared side by side. She walked closer up to them and read the signs hanging on each of them. On her left was 'Destiny' while the right was 'Chance'.

She really wanted to know what lay behind those two doors. Scratching her head and wondering which doorknob she should place her hand on, a sharp blinding light suddenly flashed before her. It then disappeared to reveal a golden key dangling in the air.

End of Flashback...

It was actually the dream she had some days back. She quickly looked about and took her bag to continue walking down the street.

After some minutes, she finally reached a building. Coming up to its door, she saw that it had the numbers on the key over it. She gathered that she must have been to this place before. Gui Gui tried to open the door but it was locked so she made used of the key.

It worked for her and she saw that the inside of the building was dark and rather stuffy. Entering quietly, it did not take her to proceed more than five steps before a sudden noise of things falling down with a loud thud onto the floor in one of the rooms greatly startled her.

"Goodness..." She was taken aback upon hearing a familiar voice muttering from the inside. Out of curiosity, she ventured determinedly to find out what was going on.

In one of those rooms, she was even more surprised to see the person crouched on the floor, bending over a heap of books to pick them up.

"Wang Zi?!" She hurried over to his side.

He lifted his gaze to meet her concerned ones, "Gui Gui, how did you end up here??"

She was confused, "I should be asking you why too, right??"

He laughed, "I just got the job of replacing you at the book cleaning store and your boss ordered me to deliver these dirty old books back to the shop."

Gui Gui thought for a while and finally realised, "Oh, no wonder I've forgotten...It's been quite some time ago that he last brought me to this storeroom here!"

"But," Wang Zi wondered. "How did you come in??"

She then sighed, "You must have dropped this somewhere!" Holding up the key she got for him to see, he finally figured the reason.

Together, they both placed those fallen books into a trolley and headed out of the building.

After walking for some distance down the street, Wang Zi suggested for them to take a rest by the promenade since he still have much time before he needed to show up at the store.

Coincidentally, the spot where they sat brought memories of the night when they had celebrated his birthday and played with fireworks happily. At this point, the touching view of the breathtaking sunset in the distant horizon before them accompanied a calming silence in their midst.

Both did not volunteer to speak up but yet, in their hearts, they were harbouring doubts which hopefully could be cleared in each other's presence.

Just then, a wandering vendor abruptly appeared and walked up to them, "Hi there! Would you two like to try out some tasty steamed egg buns?? They're incredibly delicious, I bet ya!!"

Gui Gui immediately exclaimed, "Ah! They are my favourite!" She quickly grabbed one before taking another to offer Wang Zi.

Xiao Jie grinned, "Since you're both a couple, I'll let you have them for free today! Enjoy!!" He then rushed past them and vanished just as fast as he came.

Observing Wang Zi's hesitance, Gui Gui was somewhat certain that he hasn't tried the specialty bun before. She took his share and started peeling off the skin for him, "I literally grew up eating this...Just the other day at my Grandma's birthday event, she made over 50 of these egg buns and guess what? My dad and I finished them all in one night...They're good...I promise..." She then handed it back to him.

"Really..." Wang Zi still looked at the thing in his hand briefly.

When he was about to take a bite, Gui Gui cried last minute, "Ah wait!" He paused and she requested for him to give it to her again.

"It's still hot," she smiled embarrassingly and blew over the bun a little. Wang Zi only gazed at her engagingly while she was doing so. When she noticed him, Gui Gui quickly passed the bun back, "Sorry, it's just my weird habit...Here you go..."

He smiled and next moment, took her hand in his, "Have you read my text message??"

Gui Gui nodded and looked down. He went on, "No matter what's your answer, I just want you to know that, I love you, Gui Gui..."

Upon hearing so, Gui Gui felt as though her heart had skipped a beat. However, her mind just turned so blank that she was at a lost for words.

Soon, Wang Zi let go of his hand, "Thanks for so much...I have never found myself happier...This steamed egg bun...I'm sure that I'll cherish it..." He got up and rearranged the books in his trolley a little. Pushing it, he turned about and decided to continue on his way.

After he advanced a few steps, Gui Gui hastily stood up. Pacing ahead, she called out to him, "Wang Zi! I'm going after happiness too!" He stopped in his track and faced her again, with a heartfelt smile.

Gui Gui quicken her steps and raced up to him. Reaching his side, she delightedly hugged him tight. Wang Zi was grateful. He held her close and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Watching at them from a distance, Ya Tou was ultimately contented. Beside her, Xiao Jie remarked dreamily, "What a pleasant ending...I'm glad for them..."

She then turned to him, "And I haven't even tasted any one of those egg buns..."

Xiao Jie was guilty, "Sorry, I ate them all..."

Ya Tou cried out without help, "How can you?! Now, I just might fall back on my word and not return to the Land of Fantaisie..."

Xiao Jie quickly raised his hands in defeat, "Sorry,...My Loving Senior Ya Tou...I'll make sure to find something edible..." Just then, his own PDA flashed and he felt his robe's pocket somewhat heavy. "Ah, there's still one left!" He took out a still hot and fresh bun from it and presented to her.

Ya Tou only shot him a dissatisfied look and grabbed the bun away from his hand. The instant she started munching on it, she could not help feeling as though she was once again on her much-missed comfortable cloudy recliner back in the heavens.


	19. Chapter 19: Ultimate Bliss

After signing on their passports, Ya Tou and Xiao Jie finally ended up back in the heavens. However, Ya Tou was quite puzzled when Xiao Jie told her that they have to head straight to the Central Hall.

"Xiao Jie, is there any stately function taking place right there?" She inquired of him.

He tried to avoid answering directly, "There's something important that we must see Cupid Major..."

"Huh?" she felt even more strange but Xiao Jie has quicken his speed to flutter past and pulled her along to catch up fast with him.

Once they have reached their destination, the two of them were more astounded to find the Leader of the Land, Cupid Major to be already waiting for them.

"Long time no see, my fellow cupids..." he greeted solemnly.

"Your Honour," Xiao Jie stepped back and bowed. Ya Tou did the same.

Cupid Major then continued, "I gather that you both have a purpose coming here..."

Xiao Jie nervously returned, "Yes, Your Honour..."

He urged, "Go ahead then, cupid Xiao Jie..."

Ya Tou nudged him, "Just what's going on?" In his response, Xiao Jie assured that he would find a way to resolve the problem. Ya Tou was ever more startled as a result.

He stepped forward, "Cupid Major, please lift the curse off Senior Ya Tou for trespassing the River of Flurries which happened shortly before her promotion. Please, place the blame on me instead...and I am all willing to sacrifice for this sake..."

Xiao Jie's words came as a surprise to Cupid Major, "Are you really certain?"

"Xiao Jie!! Why do you have to do this?!" Ya Tou cried in despair.

He faced her decisively, "Senior Ya Tou, I count myself as worthy to suffer in your place..."

She grabbed his hands, "Xiao Jie...This is not making any sense...I will not let you!"

Seeing them both, Cupid Major cleared his throat, "Alright now, Cupid Xiao Jie...I ask for the last time, have you made up your mind?"

He nodded, "Yes!"

"Wait!" Ya Tou raised a hand to block Xiao Jie from stepping forward to Cupid Major. "I don't agree...I don't care whatever curse, I can't let Xiao Jie bear the consequences..."

"Senior Ya Tou!!" Xiao Jie retorted.

Following, the Chapel's bell sounded and they both were shocked. Then, Cupid Major let out a laugh as his assistant appeared, bringing with him some papers.

He announced, "Congratulations! You have passed the test!"

"What?!" Xiao Jie and Ya Tou uttered at the same time.

Cupid Major went on to explain, "Actually, it is all known that since the very beginning, we cupids do not practise falling in love with one another. But having myself being the leader of this Land for over a million cupid years already, it struck me that loneliness and keeping to our own selves may not be a good thing. So I discussed with my assistant and we decided to do a secret test on our cupid population. Then, I remember once I was on an assignment to Earth and the humans have created this popular phrase, 'Opposites Attract'. So we singled you both out...Cupid Xiao Jie, being the one with the worst record in the Land..." Turning to him, he continued, "I just can't imagine your lengthy list of blunders and failings, whether seen or unseen, to be a zillion times longer than the vines in our Paradise Gardens...while Cupid Ya Tou is one of the brightest amongst all...Now, I see that everything is a success..."

Ya Tou and Xiao Jie looked at him with wide eyes, "You mean,...us two??"

Cupid Major flashed the brightest smile and snapped his fingers for the assistant to hand him a scroll and quill, "So...which date shall I set you both up for an engagement party??"

"Wait a minute! Are you gonna tell us that there's nothing about the curse??" Xiao Jie asked.

"Absolutely," Cupid Major ran his finger down a list of possible dates. He then added, "Before I forget, as the first pair of couple in the land, you both should be completely honest and open with each other...Cupid Xiao Jie, shouldn't you at least apologise to Cupid Ya Tou for impersonating as her fan during her autograph session and then sending her down to Earth the other day??"

"Oh," Xiao Jie realised.

On the side, Ya Tou glared strongly at him with rising fury, "How could you?! Making me sign on my passport without me knowing at all?!!"

Xiao Jie looked away and trembled in fear. She then suppressed her temper and turned to Cupid Major, "Thanks, Your Honour...But I just have this last request from you...can I have the Bow and Arrow of Everlasting Bliss to bless my charge 'Gui Gui' and her true love, 'Wang Zi' back on Earth??"

"No problem!" He waved a hand for the mystical items to appear.

Once Ya Tou got them in her hands, she bade, "Finally, now I have an excuse to return to Earth and quit seeing you all senseless creatures again!!" She pointed furiously at Xiao Jie and in a blink of an eye, signed on her own passport before vanishing.

"Hey!" Xiao Jie looked about worriedly. "Ya Tou, wait for me! We still have an engagement party to attend to!" He too signed on his own passport and disappeared. Cupid Major and his assistant who were left behind, only looked at each other cluelessly.

Across the universe and back on Earth, Gui Gui and Wang Zi were happily indulging in a tree-planting activity event on a certain day. "Alright, finished!" She pressed hard on the soil ground and then got up on her feet to stretch her arms.

Wang Zi stood up as well, "Wonder how much it would have grown when we come back next year..."

Gui Gui smiled and looked up at the sky above them. 'Eh??" she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when there seemed to be a silhoutte of a bow and arrow beyond the clouds up there.

Wang Zi looked at her and then gazed upwards. He too witnessed the same strange thing.

"Thanks very much for participating today..." One of the tree-planting event committee members approached them both.

"Don't mention it," Wang Zi and Gui Gui expressed together.

The committee member then handed a box of chocolates to them, "This is a gesture of our appreciation...Hope to see you both again next time!"

"Thank you!" They gratefully accepted it. Gui Gui then sighed with relief as she and Wang Zi went on their way.

Rubbing her forehead, Gui Gui found that this year's summer season has come extremely earlier. Noticing her, Wang Zi took out a towel and wiped off the sweat on her face.

Gui Gui was touched by his actions. She then playfully took the towel from him, "Hey, you're even sweatier than I do!" Helping to wipe his forehead, she came up with a question, "I have been thinking, Wang Zi, is it possible for you to come up with more cute animal sketches for me??"

He pondered, "Why ask this?"

"Well," she stammered.

He somewhat knew now, "Are you trying to hire me as a designer for the future plush-toy making factory??"

Gui Gui was surprised, "How did you know??" Then, it came to her mind, "Don't tell me you've been prying into my diary entries the other day...Oh you!!"

Wang Zi smiled awkwardly and tried to run away. "Hey, sneaky Wang Zi!!" Gui Gui threw over his towel and started chasing after him. "Wait up!!" her high-pitched voice resounded loud and clear through the cleared path of the area as Wang Zi continued to scamper away.

-THE END-

"Thanks for Reading!!"


End file.
